ComeKeto: Simply delightful Brazilian fare

Thursday

Nov 15, 2012 at 6:00 AM

By Ann Connery Frantz Telegram & Gazette Reviewer

My first reaction to hearing the name of this restaurant was, “huh?” It sounded Japanese, so I checked out www.comeketo.com. What a nice find! ComeKeto, it turns out, is a common expression in Minas Girais, Brazil, meaning to eat quietly, or peacefully. It’s a condensed form of “come quieto,” which will be more familiar to Spanish students like myself. With a bit of wryness, our waiter told us that, in other uses, it means to do something good secretly — kind of like “kiss and don’t tell.”

In this case, however, we’ll tell all.

This simple Brazilian restaurant and takeout spot, open since 2009, is delightful. Instead of the familiar red and green blocks one uses in some Brazilian restaurants (green for “more meat,” red for “no mas”), patrons get a traditional serving of what they order. And when it comes to that, there’s a lot to select from: appetizers, salads and traditional meat-filled croquettes; pasteis (like “pasties,”), turnovers filled with meat or fruit and spices; Brazilian-style burgers and sandwiches — many with that danged egg every new Brazilian diner fears before finding it’s delicious; entrées; vegetarian food; an Uruguyan specialty plate; unique side dishes featuring Brazilian and American foods, and desserts.

We arrived early and were happily served — and happily filled — throughout this meal. Our server, Rodrigo, was cheerfully anxious to help us with our selections, since we clearly didn’t know much, beyond the knowledge I’d gleaned from an irresistible Brazilian bakery I’d frequented in Lowell a few years back.

The very sizable menu includes translations of food terms as well. Rodrigo seemed to ferret out our needs before we voiced them, and assisted in countless ways with menu selection. Also notably, he was unfazed by a companion’s difficulty in ordering due to a handicap, and helped her out — this warmed our hearts in yet another way.

We found out later that Rodrigo Souza is, in fact, the owner. It’s a small place, and he wears many hats!

There were four of us, and we ordered a single appetizer, to familiarize ourselves with tastes. The Brazilian Platter ($11.99) contains fried yucca (a root), mild sausage, pork ribs, Brazilian-spiced wings and dried meat. They were all good — to one of us. I disliked the dried meat, my friend devoured it.

The yucca (pronounced You-ka) was more to my liking; similar to a potato, it can be prepared in multiple ways. Since some of these ingredients are also used in the sandwiches and entrées, it’s a good way to predict the future. The future looked promising.

We also ventured a little with our drinks. This being a non-alcoholic establishment, a variety of juices, Brazilian and American sodas, and a wonderful selection of smoothies are available. My Tropical Island ($4.75) included orange juice, pineapple and strawberries; there are also mango, acai, guarana, papaya, coconut, passion fruit and more available, ranging from $3.50 to $4.75. Exotic, healthful and delicious! The hubby’s Brazilian guarana soda ($1.85 for the bottle) was a new taste, slightly sweet, slightly gingery, and we liked it.

We shared a couple of soups — one pork soup and one chicken ($5.50 each). They were thick — almost stewy — and filling. Since they come in large bowls, it’s best to share. The soup is a meal in itself, and tastes distinctly different. I tried both, and preferred the chicken, since it didn’t have that smoky pork flavor.

Entrées came next, and it took us longer than usual to make our choices, with much help from Rodrigo when we asked for it.

I ordered a tilapia stew, “Moqueca con camarao,” with shrimp and tilapia in a creamy tomato-coconut milk sauce — it was not a mistake to do so. I just loved this dish; it was flavorful and delicious from start to next-day snacking. The meal ($13.90) also came with rice, baked plantain and a small salad. For those new to it, plantain is a large banana with a fabulous taste when sautéed or baked.

Foods here are not hot and spicy; they are mild and seasoned, a key difference. Hot sauce is available separately. With Rodrigo’s assistance, my husband chose several items from the bakery case at the entrance — traditional Brazilian pasteis like Coxinha com Catupiry ($2.25), a croquette stuffed with shredded, seasoned chicken and cheese; a Kibe ($1.80), which is stuffed with bulgur wheat, ground beef and mint leaves, and a Bolinho de Mandioca ($1.80), which is a ground beef croquette in a yucca/cassava dough. He enjoyed them all, finding them creamy on the inside and pleasantly seasoned, but not a spicy hot flavor. The Coxinha was his favorite. It’s a bit of a taste preference — they are hugely popular among Brazilians.

Our friends chose the Fried Tilapia Plate ($9.99) and a Grilled Pork Chop Plate ($9.99). Each came with fried yucca, baked sweet plantains, a fried egg on top, rice and warm beans in broth (feijao tropeiero). These were both good, though I preferred my yummy tilapia stew to any of their entrées. The tilapia my friend had was nicely prepared and tasted fine. The pork chops also were good — smoky, with house seasoning, and prepared correctly. He enjoyed them.

There were so many choices that a return visit is a good idea. We had to leave a little room for dessert. We ordered flan, a favorite, and it was not disappointing. The flan ($3.25) was gently spicy, warm and rich. Don’t skip it. There’s another dessert dish we did not order, Acai in the Bowl, containing acai — an antioxidant fruit that hails from the Amazon. It’s a berry-like pudding, topped with sliced bananas and drizzled honey for $7.25. Seemed like too much after such a hefty meal, so we skipped it.

There’s a sense of fun about this place, and a playful approach to food stressing variety and traditional favorites. There’s even an “X Elephant” sandwich challenge ($13.50), for those brave enough to swallow grilled chicken and sausage, top sirloin, pork loin, bacon, egg, ham and mozzarella in one sandwich. There’s a reward if you do. Oh, and it comes with fries.

The tables were filled by the time we left — and more than one language was being spoken, adding a touch of “cool” to the ambiance. (Portuguese, English and Spanish spoken in house.) Those who’d prefer to eat at home are also lucky: the eight-town-circuit “Foodie Taxi” delivers ComeKeto (and other restaurants’) specials all evening. ComeKeto even offers a weeklong meal plan, with more than 100 options, for devotees.

This place is small, sincere and charming — quite an accomplishment. We can hope for a larger place someday; for now, the food is well worth returning to sample. Cost of our meal, for four, was $87.67 plus tax.